Trouble Lurking
by Thegoldenlock
Summary: Bryans nightmares of Rei, kneeling in front of him drenched in his own blood turns worse as the date of the Championship comes closer.How will he handle his ignorance of emotions when he starts to feel something more for the man he once tried to kill?


**An; my first attempt on a Yaoi one-shot so be gentle with me. I've always loved Bryan X Rei pairings so I decided that it would be my first to write. I've a tendency to like crack pairings so you don't have to be surprised over future one-shots! Enjoy!

* * *

****Bryan **turns and grunts in his sleep. His dyed grey hair is in a mess due to sweat and a deep frown graces his pale face. It seems that the Russians true feelings and worries breaks through his cold facade during his sleep; he's currently facing a nightmare that he has seen many times before.

He sees himself through a deep fog but everything is still so clear to him. He's standing there with an evil smirk on his lips while his opponent is on his knees, drenched in crimson blood. He's laughing when more damage is done to the defenceless person in front of him and aims his launcher at the man's face. A pair of golden eyes stares at him but the eye contact makes Bryan turn over in his bed but it doesn't seem to affect him in the dream at all.

"_This is my way of saying hi." _The words Bryan wants to stop emerges from his dream self's lips easily and the coldness in them makes him grit his teeth in his sleep.

He pulls the trigger and a loud sound can be heard, followed by a scream full of pain and anger. Everything turns silent and a pitch-black darkness surrounds him. He's falling.

"Gaaaah!" Bryan yells as he wakes up with a jolt.

His eyes are narrow and he breathes harshly, in and out. He looks at his surroundings as if he's unsure that what he saw was a dream and not reality. Bryan's breathing becomes calmer when he recognises the room as his hotel suite and he combs his messy hair with his fingers. Spencer is surprisingly still fast a sleep and the older Russian snores softly in the bed in the other side of the room. Bryan sighs relived. But a disgusted expression takes away his calmness exterior when he feels the sweat on his skin. _That dream again…? _His eyes get distant as he recalls the expression on one of the old Bladebreaker´s faces when he hurt him, several years ago.

"…Rei." Bryan murmurs.

A lot has happened since he battled the tiger during the world championships in Russia but now, when he and the Blitzkreig boys are staying in Japan, do old memories of their battle resurface. Seeing the Chinese man again seems to trigger the nightmares about the time when he still was a young boy who couldn't feel anything but anger and an inhuman desire to win. So much has changed but old scars won't heal that easily. The old geezers who invented the saying "time heals everything" have not met Bryan Kuznetsov, and he bets that they wouldn't want to meet him either.

Bryan gets up from his bed and walks towards the bathroom, he's in need for a long cold shower. His well-built body gets visible as he strips of his dirty t-shirt and boxers and the cold water calms his raging nerves and emotions as he turns on the shower. He leans back against the wall as the water drenches his whole being but he can't enjoy the feeling since a certain someone is on his mind.

All the teams are currently staying at this five-star hotel in Kyoto, Japan, since Mr. Dickensson said that they needed to get to know each other better before the upcoming competition and what's better than a visit at one of Kyoto´s famous hotels during one of its festivals? The Japanese teams complained a little about this since they believed that their foreign friends wouldn't appreciate the historical city and that it would better to stay in Tokyo. It's Tyson who stands for the largest part of the complaining though and no one bothered to voice their opinion about the matter.

The stay at the hotel has affected Bryan and his team in many ways. The person he wanted to kill several years ago looks so alluring in his eyes today. And the word "Alluring" isn't something he uses often. The small kitten Bryan faced back then has turned into a strong, collected and beautiful tiger and the cat like eyes from his dream are shining stronger than ever. Rei stared at him like he was someone he hardly knew and nodded as a greeting when they first met after the incident and Bryan understood that everything is different. Everything about the man has changed from what he remembered. The Chinese man seemed to be unaffected when they met again and that inner strength surprised Bryan at first but what really surprised him was that he no longer could control the man through fear.

Bryan curses under his breath. The water makes his hair fall down over his eyes and it hides the confusion shown in their depths. Just thinking about Rei makes him feel strange all over and he's sure that it's not anger or hate he's feeling. He has started to develop feelings, different from the ones he knows, for the tiger and it scares him since he still can't grasp them. He can't understand his own feelings anymore. He finds the wielder of the Byakko bitbeast interesting all of a sudden and the new strength behind his moves holds him captive.

_I've a bad feeling about this…_Bryan starts to avoid the man.

* * *

**Bryan **grunts as Tala literally pulls him out of the hotel. The red head is slightly irritated on the paler Russian but is content now when he finally managed to get him to accompany them to the festival.

The night has fallen and the only source of light is the stars and some colourful lamps along the way towards the centre. A nice smell lingers in the air and it grows stronger as the Russian team approaches the crowd of people ahead of them. Laughing children, shouting salesmen and other sounds can be heard as they join the celebration.

"Where are the others?" Ian asks his team.

"We're soon there." Tala answers.

The leader of the team leads the way through the crowd while Spencer tries to calm a very hyperactive Ian down. The smallest member of the team loves festivals and runs from stand to stand to buy souvenirs and snacks. Ian's behaviour makes the otherwise calm and collected Spencer to seem a little bothered for once.

Bryan walks behind Tala and he stays silent through the whole walk. His nightmares have made him tired and he's in no mood for celebration at the moment, nor meeting the person his dreams are connected with by accident.

"Why didn't you leave for the festival when the others did? If you did you wouldn't have to look for them now." Bryan complains.

A pair of ice blue eyes glares at him.

"You wouldn't have come if we did. Mr. Dickenson wants us to stay together with the others, he's making it easy for us to regain the trust which we lost during the world championships in Russia." Tala tells him in a flat tone. "At least pretend to care."

"I don't give a shit about what others thinks of me!" Bryan snaps.

"Do you want everyone to see you as the one who nearly murdered a blader in front of millions of fans? Do you?" Tala retorts.

This makes Bryan´s eyes narrow but he looks away instead of yelling back at Tala as he usually should have done. What Tala said is the truth but he didn't need it to be shoved into his face like that, not now. He knows that what he did to Rei is unforgivable but his only excuse is that Boris made him do it. He forced him to forget all emotions and be a heartless blader but everyone else doesn't know of this.

"This is our chance to show the world that we were used by Boris and that we…are sorry." Spencer enters the conversation.

"Hn." Bryan grunts.

Bryan gives in when he sees the hidden meaning behind their trip to Japan at last. He has always tried to not care but he does care about their reputation in the end.

His body turns tense unconsciously when he hears the voice of a certain world champion. The always noisy and impatient Tyson Granger greets them with a broad smile and Bryan is surprised to see how Tala returns the gesture. His captain has since his battle with Tyson seen the Japanese man as special, God knows why, and Bryan decided early to not find out more about the two of them. Bryan can't help but look after the man in his nightmares, Rei, but the thought of that he's now team captain for the White Tigers strikes him. The Bladebreakers he knew doesn't exist anymore. _Why do I keep on thinking of him? _Bryan wants to stop caring for the Chinese man but his face re-appears in his mind from time to time.

Kai, who has stayed with Tyson at the dojo for a while, greets them with a silent nod but starts to smirk after a while.

"Were you missing me that badly?" Kai can't help but say.

"Don't flatter yourself, Hiwatari." Tala answers. "We've been doing great without you."

"You're gonna make me cry." Kai smirks.

Bryan roll his eyes at his team mates behaviour. The violent Russian isn't in the mood at the moment and Kai´s presence doesn't make it better. Bryan wants to leave this _happy go lucky _place so he'll be able to think things through. He wants to leave before he accidentally meets someone he wants to avoid.

"Oh Bryan are you alright?" Tyson asks him. "You look like you're in pain."

Bryan looks at the teen for a while before he snorts out loud. The Japanese kid is worried about his health when he damaged his friends some years ago? He's so fake or too naive.

"Watch up man, it looks like he wants to kill you or something." A small, irritating red head tells Tyson. Bryan can't recognise the small, energetic and monkey-looking teen but doesn't give a damn about who or what he is.

"Hn." Bryan turns away. _Smart kid…_

"Bryan where are you going?" Kai asks him, the once strong blader sounds like a mother hen.

"I just need some air." Is his simple answer as he walks away from the others.

A deep sigh leaves Tala´s lips as he watches the other man walk away. The nice reunion has turned into a tense situation and it doesn't look good for them at all. Bryan has a hard time trying to cope with his past, Tala knows that, but shouldn't he be able to get over it by now?

"What's wrong with him?" A girl with brown hair asks Kai.

* * *

**Bryan c**an't help but feel somewhat happy as he walks down the empty streets of Kyoto. He has managed to avoid the commotion due to the festival and he enjoys the silence around him. He needs the calmness since he has a lot to think about.

His calmness is broken when a loud yell echoes between the tall buildings around him. The sudden sound makes the Russian flinch before he gets more alert. He approaches the sound slowly and his eyes widen as he turns the corner. A gang of street fighters are surrounding a lone man and is threateningly getting closer to him.

"Wow, nice fancy clothes. I wonder mow much it´ll cost ya to buy some new ones." One of them laughs, clearly saying that he dislikes the man's origin.

Bryan tilts his head to the side to get a better view of their victim and his eyes gets even wider when he recognises him. That person is easy to recognise even though he's so far away. The man is dressed in a white and golden Chinese robe that seems to shimmer by the sunlight together with a pair of black shoes. The Chinese sign for tiger can be viewable at the back but long, loose black hair covers it. _It's Rei._ Bryan's heart grows cold as he understands what's about to happen. He has never felt this before, not when a street battle is about to take place.

"Please let me cut of that girly hair of yours!" Another one comments with an evil smirk almost as if he asks for permission.

Golden eyes narrow dangerously at this and he grits his teeth so a pair of sharp fangs is showing. Rei is quick to get down into a defensive pose as the others keep on getting closer to him. Years of kung-fu training have polished his senses but a well-known rule is to never strike first.

"Get out of my way." Rei demands in an angry voice, warning them that he'll attack if they don't. "I've no time for this."

"Oh? Scared?"

The young man doesn't take Rei´s warning seriously and they continue to approach him dangerously. Rei´s takes a step back out of surprise and horror as one of them grabs a metal pole from the ground. The tiger swallows his fears and puts on a fearless facade.

"I said; move!" Rei roars while walking towards them with raised fists.

"This fag is asking for it!" The man with the pole takes Rei´s reaction as an invitation and charges.

Bryan's eyes narrow as the battle starts and he quickens his peace unconsciously. He shouldn't feel this panicky about a fight but his heart beats loudly in his chest and his body gets tense unconsciously. This heavy feeling fades a little as he regards how Rei defends himself easily and fights back in a very graceful manner.

"Oh where are you going?" A guy steps out in front of Bryan. "Don't interrupt our fun."

Bryan ignores the guy and keeps on walking towards the fighting tiger, his eyes doesn't leave Rei´s features once. He frowns as the guy once again becomes a hindrance to him and without hesitations, he hits him in the face with a fist. He evades a punch by grabbing the attacker's wrist and pulling him forward so he can land a punch into his stomach area so he falls over by pain.

"What the hell?! Do you've a death wish, kid?" Bryan curses out loud.

Bryan gives the guy a push before he walks forward in an attempt to reach Rei. But it doesn't take long before he's yet again stopped by the men. Rei, who hasn't seen Bryan, keeps on defending himself as they charge at him. He uses his gracefulness to evade the attacks and he uses the attacker´s own power against him with splendid moves that he learnt long time ago. But that metal pole will become a problem; he can feel it. He's the underdog in this battle and he won't be able to defend himself for much longer.

Rei doesn't get the chance to think about that since an intense pain invades his body. Someone hit him with something hard and the power behind the blow makes him lose his balance somewhat. He can taste the iron in his mouth and spits. _This is bad. _Rei almost get hit one more time but he manages to evade it somehow and is quick on his feet. He notices in this moment that several of his attackers are fighting someone else but he can't ponder on for a long time.

"Wow, he's using some kung fu shit!" One of them laughs. "Guys hold him down for me!"

"Stop it!" Rei growls, now with a hint of panic in his voice. "Stop this befo---"

Rei is interrupted by a punch in his face and he can feel how his lip rips open. Warm liquid flows out of the cut and drenches his chin and right cheek. It makes him dizzy and he's thrown to the ground all of a sudden without being able to fight back. Someone holds his arms while someone else pushes his head against the ground and he's totally unable to move. His body turns cold by fear, a fear that he seldom tastes, and his mind goes blank. Rei can't think anymore and he's just waiting for them to kick him into unconsciousness.

"Look at him, that fucking Chinese is too weak to protect himself!" One of them screams and is about to hit Rei in the stomach with that metal pole.

Rei looks up since he feels no pain and golden eyes widen as he sees how Bryan stands in front of him like a human shield. His broad shoulders, his tallness and his raised fists makes Rei exhale loudly out of relief since he knows that the Russian is on his side. Golden eyes narrow as Rei sees how a pair of a falcon's wings grow larger from the man's back, but the wings are gone just as fast as they appeared.

"B-b-bryan…" Rei hisses by pain and surprise.

He wonders if Bryan heard his wimper since his mouth is still buried in the ground. Their eyes meet when Bryan looks over his shoulder and his cold expression tells Rei more than what words could. It doesn't take a moment, nor seconds when Bryan quickly charges and punches the men holding Rei down. The tiger is at last freed from its cage but has no power to move from the position on the ground.

"Oh, are you a friend of his?" One of the men smirks, he seems to act unaffected by Bryan´s violent side. He tries to act cool. "Why bother?"

"Leave now or regret it." Bryan warns them in an attempt to solve this without getting even more violent. He has the metal pole in his hands now, the owner is lying on the ground.

"I'm so not scared!"

Rei doesn't know if the man tries to convince Bryan or himself.

"…You should be." Bryan whispers to himself as he charges.

Bryan doesn't hesitate to throw himself into a battle and he punches one of the men straight in the face. A snapping sound can be heard and blood emerges from the man's nose as he falls backwards to the ground. The Russian is quick to attack one of the others and gets him down on the ground successfully too.

Adrenaline starts to flow through his veins as his heart beat gets quicker and the rush of a desire to beat the life out of the men who hurt Rei grown stronger by each passing second. Bryan has always enjoyed fighting like this, call him a madman if you want, but fighting to protect someone is new to him. It's like there's suddenly a deeper reason behind his violence now and he feels the pressure on him and likes the sensation.

"Woah, shit!"

Bryan's white skin turns read by the crimson liquid that emerges from his enemies' bodies. He doesn't care about their health anymore, they asked for this pain and he continues to hit them util they crawls on their knees asking for forgiveness.

"What are you? A murderer?!"

"Get out of here now and maybe I won't have to turn into one." Bryan threatens them angrily in a very low but dangerous voice.

The men seem to have realised that Bryan is serious and many of them back off in fear of being hit by his iron fists. The crowd turns their backs to the overconfident leader and runs for their lives, leaving him behind. The man is quick to follow them though.

"Let's go! We can't win over that animal!!"

"Run!"

* * *

**Bryan **exhales deeply as he wipes away the sweat on his forehead, he finds his hands turning red. He snorts as he sees this but pays no more attention to it. Bleeding is not a big deal to him. He turns his gaze to the man still lying on the ground and his emotionless facade fades somewhat. Rei looks up when he hears footsteps approaching him.

"Are you able to stand?" Bryan asks him, not sure if he should offer him his help or not.

"…Yeah."

Rei pushes himself off the ground slowly and Bryan can literally see the pain he's feeling at the moment. The neko-jin´s clothes are all ruined, his skin is torn and bruised, his long hair is in a mess and that handsome face of his is a little swollen. Rei looks like shit. The Chinese man is able to get back on his feet but his balance is off which makes Bryan feel a little more concerned than he already is.

"Watch it!" Bryan grabs Rei´s arm when the man is about to fall over from exhaustion. "Are you alright?"

"Just a little dizzy, thanks." Rei admits even though he doesn't want to.

Bryan helps Rei regain his balance and keeps his arm close to the other man's back in case he would fall again. The pale Russian feels strange when Rei accepts his help and the sudden closeness makes his heart beat a little faster. Or is that some leftover adrenaline from the battle just now?

"Do…you've a phone with you?"

"Do you want me to call for an ambulance?" He answers the question with another question.

"No…I just need to talk to Lee."

Bryan hands Rei his very old cell phone and the injured man dials his friend. Bryan regards him as he speaks his native tongue and he can't help but enjoy the sound of it. Rei talks rather calmly while a much louder answers him and Bryan presumes that Lee, or whoever it is on the other line, is angry with Rei. The Chinese man ends the call with a sigh.

"Thanks."

"So where should I take you?"

"I told the White Tigers that I would meet them near the market place. There are going to be some fireworks there."

"Shouldn't you fix your wounds instead?" Bryan snorts at his stupidity.

"I'm fine."

Rei seems to be a little embarrassed over the fact that he's in this condition and Bryan is the one who saved the day. He wants to act strong even though he´s injured pretty badly. This makes the Russian smirk, he likes it. But the smirk fades quickly.

"I'm always with you when you're in this state." Bryan comments. "But I'm not the cause of it this time…I'm sorry."

"…Sorry about what?" Rei has a clue of what Bryan is talking about but he wants the explanation.

Bryan turns his face away but Rei clearly sees his troubled expression. Bryan runs his fingers trough his sweaty hair before he makes a small gesture with his hands, as if he tries to explain without words.

"I'm sorry about what happened when we battled, in Russia." Bryan tells him in a slightly choked tone. His guilt is shining through.

"Oh."

"What?" Bryan utters in a slightly defensive voice.

"I thought you were over it." Rei explains. "You always seemed so unaffected by it."

"…We were told not to show emotions at that place, old habits are hard to leave behind." Bryan mutters in a quite bitter voice.

"Hah…I should know about that since I've been Kai´s team mate for over two years but… I guess your situation is quite hard to imagine." Rei explains.

Bryan agrees in silence. The two of them walks side by side down the narrow alleyway towards the centre of the festival. The silence turns comfortable after a while but Bryan can't help but jump when Rei starts to talk.

"Oh no."

"What?"

"Mariah is going to kill me!"

"Care to explain?" Bryan asks him in an amused tone.

"She gave me this outfit and it's all ruined." Rei sighs deeply. "I guess it was my fault since I walked here at this time… I mean random criminals are said to hang here…"

"One question, why did you head this way when you knew about the risks?"

"I was looking for you." Rei answers bluntly.

"Come again?" _Why would he look for me? _

"I thought I could talk to you if I found your team but you weren't there."

Bryan´s eyes widen a fraction at this and he finds himself wanting to know why Rei was looking for him. Rei seems to be able to read his thoughts since he starts to explain almost immediately.

"Well, during these days at the hotel I've noticed that you acted strange around me so I wanted to ask if I've done something wrong so I could apologise for it."

"…That's it?" Bryan frowns. "That's not a good reason to follow someone like me around."

Bryan rolls his eyes at the other man as he turns around to walk away. If you follows the ice cold falcon around you'll meet trouble on your way since gangs, criminals and other thugs seems to see him as a nice person to beat up. _They're all wrong though._ A strange suffocating emotion makes him want to walk away since the Tiger is on the right way to find out about his secret obsession.

"You're doing it again."

"What?" Bryan looks over his shoulder at Rei.

"You're doing it again; acting all strange." Rei complains. "What have I done?"

"…" Bryan is silent. "Nothing. Look I've to go, Tala is probably looking for me."

"You're running away from me, aren't you?" Rei states the fact.

Bryan tenses at this and he curses mentally. He turns around to face Rei once again.

"Tell me what I've done so we can solve this!" Rei demands.

Bryan tries to calm down and walk away but Rei is seriously pushing his buttons in a way that he can't ignore. And he finally snaps.

"You want to solve this? Fine!"

Bryan takes a hold of Rei´s arms and shoves him up against the wall violently. He doesn't care about the Chinese man's injuries since he has totally lost his self-control. Bryan swallows the Rei´s gasp of pain with a pair of hungry lips. Rei clings to Bryan so he won't hit his head too badly and his eyes go wide by the pure lust behind Bryan´s unexpected actions.

Bryan pushes his well-trained body against Rei´s in a very violent but yet sensual way and the close contact makes the tiger groan with surprise or…pleasure? They can feel each other's heart beat and the quick rhythm quickens as Bryan deepens the kiss further. He tilts his head to the side, opens his mouth slightly and invades Rei´s hot and wet mouth with his tongue. Rei´s eyes grow distant as he fights his emotions before they slip close when he finally gives in to them. He's just about to answer the kiss when Bryan pushes him away.

Rei´s golden eyes get alert once again and he looks at Bryan in a confused manner. His lips are aching from the rough kiss and he presumes that they´re red and swollen at the moment. He gets no time to think about it though because a loud snort interrupts his thoughts.

"This is my problem. Are you happy now?" Bryan snaps in a sarcastic way as he turns his face away. Something close to shame is making him feel awful.

"You…with me?" Rei murmurs to himself with a dreamy look on his face.

Bryan exhales deeply but does not answer. He starts to walk away from the man since he feels way too embarrassed and uncertain to stay there and face the consequences. Yes, he's running away from Rei since he only can make his love interest hate him more. The lion has somehow fallen in love with the lamb and everyone knows that it's an impossible love.

"Wait!"

Bryan frowns as he hears Rei´s voice. He wants to run away but he can't, so he stops in his tracks with his back against the man. His body is tense all over as he waits for curses, punches or something similar from the other blader.

"What happened in Russia that time…I forgave you a long time ago.. I´ll try to understand you from no on and…we´ll see where _this_ goes."

Rei approaches Bryan from behind and takes his bigger hand in his. Grey eyes narrow by surprise. The action speaks more than thousands of words could and the unpleasant feelings inside of Bryan change into something he enjoys. It makes him understand that confessing these strange feelings to Rei was the right thing to do no matter what his future answer is. Rei squeezes his hand softly and all his doubts go away.

"We have to hurry if we want to see the fireworks…Can you do me a favour?" Rei changes the subject in an attempt to make the heavy atmosphere more comfortable.

"Hn?" Bryan smirks. "Are you sure that I don't need to call for an ambulance?"

Bryan can't help but think that Rei must have seriously hit his head since the Tiger accept him just like that. No one has done that before, well his team but they were at first forced to put up with him. Is he allowed to feel this light-headed?

"Hah nah, I won't need one if you protect me from Mariah´s wrath."

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**AN; Please tell me what you think about it! I really wonder if I should continue to write one-shots or stick with longer stories. I want to do both. I´m currently doing this 100 challenge to improve my skills, if you want to know more check out my profile. R&R**


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